Alteration

In case you were wondering, I removed about twenty posts from this blog. It was not done by any outside source.

One Sentence to Change Your Life

Listen to the pain of the chronically ill--until it hurts you, too.

Mutual Misery and Christian Hope

There is sad mutuality to chronic illness among couples. The sick one chronically needs special help from the healthy one. The healthy one wants to be loving, but feels put upon some times. The sick one feels terrible that he or she must demand so much extra from the healthy one and experiences self-hate. The healthy one wishes someone else could step in and help to alleviate some of the stress, but realizes that he or she is basically irreplaceable. This can lead to bitterness and deep unhappiness for both.

What is the answer? There is no simple, one-size-fits-all answer. Rather, in Christ, we must cultivate faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love. Each partner must lovingly submit to the other, putting the other first, but without neglecting one's real needs (sometimes called "self care"). The healthy one can burn out and blow up if he or she is not careful, and this helps no one.

From The Denver Christians for Biblical Equality

Dear Friends,

Please join us for the next meeting of the Denver Chapter of Christians for Biblical Equality.
We will meet Monday, September 28, 11:30-1pm in the Executive Board Room at Denver Seminary.
A complimentary light lunch will be served at 11:30am. The program will take place from 12:00 to 1:00pm.

Dr. Doug Groothuis, Professor of Philosophy at Denver Seminary, will speak on “Egalitarianism and the Witness of the Gospel.”

We hope to see you there,

Janet George
Mary Hanson
Vaun Swanson
Lindsey Widstrom

A Lament

Mysterious symptoms have a myriad of possible causes when one is on dozens of medications and is prone to endless side effects. This is another agony of chronic illness. One must guess, consult, and experiment with one's own body and at great expense (physically, mentally and financially) to try to alleviate or ameliorate strange, new symptoms.

This is just a lament, a sad wail aimed into the air.

The Problem of Evil

I have a short essay, "Addressing the Problem of Evil," in The Christian Research Journal, Vol 32, No. 4 (2009).

Sickness, Prayer Sickness

Jesus said to pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1-8). Paul said to pray without ceasing. But it hurts and feels stupid sometimes when you have prayed so long and so hard for the same things.
Of course, there is more to prayer than petition. We should also give thanks and praise and repent before the Lord. But when our loved ones hurt, and hurt, and hurt, and when we fear for their (and our) future, petition is central.

"God, please heal my loved one." Over and over, we pray it, along with requests for comfort, growth in Christ, or salvation. Jesus said not to pray in vain repetitions, and I wonder if I fall into that some times (Matthew 7:7). What to do?

1. Pray the Bible itself, especially Psalms, which are prayers expressing every human emotion.
2. Pray written prayers, especially from The Book of Common Prayer.
3. Try to pray with others instead of by oneself. There is a different dynamic in this, but it is difficult to find people who really storm heaven by Scripture.